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NBA All Star Game

In a game of ultimate High Octane offense, the Eastern Conference All Stars came out victorious against the Western Conference All Stars in the NBA All Star Game by a score of 163-155. The crème de la crème of the NBA put up a showcase which broke a number of records for all star games. Some of the notable records broken were total points scored (318), points scored by one team (163), number of assists (88) and number of 3 point shots attempted.

All star games are not really known for their defence. However, the 2014 edition put up an unprecedented show of offense. West held a 89-76 lead at half time. In the third quarter, they consolidated their lead and at one time led by as many as 18 points. But a late surge by the East led by the game MVP Kyrie Irving and LeBron James saw them outplay the west and break the 3 year winning streak of the Western Conference All Stars.

In terms of individual performances, there were a number of highlight plays from both sides. However, 4 players specifically stood out for their efforts.

MVP Kyrie Irving finished with 31 points and 14 assists. 24 of those points came in th second half to lead East’s late rally. He was ably supported by Carmelo Anthony who scored an All Star record 8 three point field goals shooting 8 of 12 from behind the arc on his way to 30 points.

For the west, Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant had 38 points apiece which is tied for 3rd place in the maximum points scored by an all star in one game. Griffin’s performance was the ultimate highlight reel. He scored his 38 points on 19 shots, with 15 of them being dunks. Durant was simply all over the place, lighting it up from both outside and inside while also racking up 6 assists to go with 7 rebounds. For the West, point guards Chris Paul and Stephen Curry totalled 24 assists with 11 and 13 each respectively.

Lack of defence has always been a fixture of all star games, but it was telling that not a single block was recorded in the entire game. This despite it featuring avant garde shot blockers like Anthony Davis, Joakim Noah, Dwight Howard and Roy Hibbert. an obscene amount of points is always fun to watch, but you do miss moments like these –

For the west, Anthony Davis was the injury replacement for veteran superstar Kobe Bryant who was named for his 16th consecutive all star appearance. Kobe was unable to play in the game due to a knee injury. His spot in the starting 5 was taken by James Harden.

Chock full of offense and highlight reel plays, the All Star game surely did live up to its billing. We leave you with the top 10 plays of the night-

(The image was taken under the Creative Commons License from the flickr user Mike here.)